Everyone collects utilities, and most folks have a list of a few that they feel are indispensable. Here's mine. Each has a distinct purpose, and I probably touch each at least a few times a week. For me, util means utilitarian and it means don't clutter my tray. If it saves me time, and seamlessly integrates with my life, it's the bomb. Many/most are free some aren't. Those that aren't free are very likely worth your 30-day trial, and perhaps your money.

Here are most of the contents of my C:/UTILS folder. These are all well loved and used. I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't use them constantly. Things on this list are here because I dig them. No one paid money to be on this list and no money is accepted to be on this list.

New Entries to the 2007 Ultimate Tools are in Red. There are dozens of additions and many updated and corrected entries and fixed links.

NOTE: Please don't reproduce this in its entirety, I'd rather you link to http://www.hanselman.com/tools. I appreciate your enthusiam, but posts like this take a lot of work on my part and I'd appreciate that work staying where it is and linked to, rather than being copy/pasted around the 'net. Also, I do believe in the Permanence of the Permalink, and I will do everything in my power (as I have for the last 4+ years) to avoid Link Rot. If you're reading this content and you're not at http://www.hanselman.com/blog, perhaps you'd like to join us at the original URL?)

The Big Ten Life and Work-Changing Utilities

THREE WAY TIE:Notepad2 or Notepad++ (Scite also uses the same codebase) or E-TextEditor - The first two are great text editors. Each has first class CR/LF support, ANSI to Unicode switching, whitespace and line ending graphics and Mouse Wheel Zooming. A must. Here's how to completely replace notepad.exe. Personally I renamed Notepad2.exe to "n.exe" which saves me a few dozen "otepad"s a day. Here's how to have Notepad2 be your View Source Editor. Here's how to add Notepad2 to the Explorer context menu. E-TextEditor is new on the block this year, inspired by TextMate in the Macintosh. It includes a "bundle" system that uses the scripting power of the Cygwin Linux-like environment for Windows to provide a more IDE-like experience than Notepad2 or Notepad++. It costs, though, but you should absolutely try it's 30-day trial before you shell out your US$35.

Notepad++ is built on the same fundamental codebase as Notepad2, and includes tabbed editing and more language syntax highlighting. Is one better than the other? They are different. I use Notepad2 as a better Notepad, but more and more I find myself using E-TextEditor aka TextMate for Windows when I need to crunch serious text. As with all opinions, there's no right answer, and I think there's room for multiple text editors in my life. These are the three I use.

PowerShell - The full power of .NET, WMI and COM all from a command line. PowerShell has a steep learning curve, much like the tango, but oh, my, when you really start dancing...woof. I also use PowerShell Prompt Here.

I also recommend after installing PowerShell that you immediately go get PowerTab to enable amazing "ANSI-art" style command-line tab completion.

If you're willing to pay (and wait a little) keep an eye on PowerShell Plus. I'm on the beta, and while it'll cost a reasonable fee, it'll be amazing. Certainly not required, but very shiny.

Lutz's Reflectorand its Many AddIns- The tool that changed the world and the way we learn about .NET. Download it, select an interesting method and hit the space bar. Take the time to install the Add-Ins and check out the amazing static analysis you can do with things like the Diff and Graph.

SlickRun - A free floating dynamic "command prompt" with alias support that continues to amaze. My tips for effective use: read the instructions, edit the slickrun.ini file and bind it to Window-R. Also set ChaseCursor so when you hit Win-R, you'll have a floating transparent command line anywhere your mouse is. I recommend you also use larger fonts! Get to know this little box. It's the bomb. I've tried dozens of launchers, giving each days of actual use, but I keep coming back to SlickRun.

FireBug - Arguably the most powerful in-browser IDE available. It's a complete x-ray into your browser including HTML, CSS and JavaScript, all live on the page. A must have.

ZoomIt- ZoomIt is so elegant and so fast, it has taken over as my #1 screen magnifier. Do try it, and spend more time with happy audiences and less time dragging a magnified window around. Believe me, I've tried at least ten different magnifiers, and ZoomIt continues to be the best.

WinSnap and Window Clippings - I'm torn between two of the finest screenshot utilities I've ever found. Free, clean, fast and tight, WinSnap has as many (or as few) options as you'd like. Also does wonders with rounded corners and transparency. It includes a 32-bit and 64-bit version, as well as a portable no-install version. However, Window Clippings also has no install, includes 32 and 64-bit and is only $10. It's a tough one. I use Window Clippings at least daily, and I use WinSnap a few times a week. Kenny Kerr of Window Clippings is actively adding new features and has a nice clean add-in model on his Developers site. Both these apps are worth your download.

CodeRush and Refactor! (and DxCore) - Apparently my enthusiasm for CodeRush has been noticed by a few. It just keeps getting better. However, the best kept secret about CodeRush isn't all the shiny stuff, it's the free Extensibility Engine called DxCore that brings VS.NET plugins to the masses. Don't miss out on free add-ins like CR_Documentor and ElectricEditing.

SysInternals - I showed specifically ProcExp and AutoRuns, but anything Mark and Bryce do is pure gold. ProcExp is a great Taskman replacement and includes the invaluable "Find DLL" feature. It can also highlight any .NET processes. AutoRuns is an amazing aggregated view of any and all things that run at startup on your box.

A great new addition to the SysInternals Family isProcess Monitor, a utility that eclipses both Filemon and Regmon. It runs on any version of Windows and lets you see exactly what a process is doing. Indispensable for developing.

It's also worth calling out the legendary Process Explorer as a standout and must-have utility.

FolderShare - It takes a minute to grok, but FolderShare lets you synchronize folders between systems, between OS's, behind firewalls. Truly change the way you use your machine. Save a file in a folder and it will always been on your other three machines when you need it. Also access files, if you like, from remote locations. And it's free.

A Developer's Life

TestDriven.NET (integrated with NCoverExplorer) - The perfect combination of Unit Testing with Visual Studio.NET. Right click and "Run Test." The output window says "Build" then switches to "Test." The best part, though, is "Test With...Debugger" as a right click that automatically starts up an external process runner, loads and starts your test. Compatible with NUnit, MBUnit and Team System. TD.NET also works with Silverlight.

Eric J Smith's CodeSmith - Oh, yes, it's much more than just a Strongly Typed Collection Generator. It's a complete code-generation engine with an ASP.NET-like syntax. Very extendable, very powerful, very affordable. And all is right with the world. I've used it to generate THOUSANDS of lines of code. There's a learning curve, but the benefits are immense. It's worth the download just for the Strongly Typed Collection code from Chris Nahr. CodeSmith is a company and costs now, but the $99 version is worth your time and money.

Jeff Key's Snippet Compiler- Sits quietly waiting for you to test a quick snippet of code or algorithm. No need to even start VS.NET! Jeff hasn't updated it in a while, but perhaps its *re-inclusion* on this list will pressure him to get working on it again.

Jeff Atwood's CleanSourcesPlus - Jeff extends on Omar's idea of a quick Explorer utility that lets you right click on any folder with code in it and get your bin,obj,debug,release directories blown away. Jeff's includes configuration options for deleting things like Resharper folders and Source Control bindings.

MemProfiler - The amount of information this tool offers is obscene. We used this at my last job to track down a number of funky memory leaks.

TheIIS Diagnostics Toolkit is a collection of small utilities from the IIS Team that make life under IIS just that much more pleasant. These tools help with debugging, tracing, log sniffing and email delays.

LogParser - Get to know it, as it's a free command-line tool from Microsoft that lets you run SQL queries against a variety of log files and other system data sources, and get the results out to an array of destinations, from SQL tables to CSV files. I dig it and use it to parse my own logs.

More and more people are trying to push me towards DiffMerge the new free merge tool from SourceGear. The merge window is pretty compelling...

KDiff3 is another free option with very configurable color schemas, multi-paned view, and it's cross platform on Linux, Windows and Mac.

VM VM Optimizer - If you use VMs, you'll want them small. There's lots of ways to do this manually, but for about $70 (how much is your time worth?) Invirtus VM Optimizer will squish the hell out of your VMs for you, automatically. I've used it with great success.

HightLight for Windows- Highlight is a universal sourcecode converter for Linux and Windows, which transforms code to HTML, XHTML, RTF, LaTeX or TeX - files with syntax highlighting. (X)HTML output is formatted by CSS.

FileHelpers - This open source library is the easiest way I've found to get data out of fixed-length or delimited text files and into Sql or Excel.

Also check out ZipInstaller; it installs utilities that don't provide their own installer! It creates icons, puts them in the folder you want and adds an uninstaller.

FireBug - Arguably the most powerful in-browser IDE available. It's a complete x-ray into your browser including HTML, CSS and JavaScript, all live on the page. A must have. It's on the list twice. Go get it.

Page Spy for IE - I go back and forth between PageSpy and the IE Developer Toolbar. PageSpy makes it really easy to find items on the page in the HTML source. It's a better View Source.

WebDeveloper for FireFox - If you're the last developer to download FireFox, or you're holding off, WebDeveloper is a solid reason to switch to FireFox NOW. It's amazing and has to be used to be believed. It consolidates at least 2 dozens useful functions for those who sling ASP.NET or HTML. And if you're a CSS person, the realtime CSS editing is pretty hot.

Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar - While not as feature-packed as FireBug or Web Developer Toolbar, the IE Developer Toolbar marches on and should be in the toolkit of any web developer supporting IE.

Fiddler - More feature-packed than the elegantly minimalist ieHttpHeaders, Fiddler is THE debugging proxy for checking out HTTP between here and there.

- Internet Explorer "Explorer Bar" that shows the HTTP Headers as you browse. Invaluable for quickie debugging. More great stuff from Jonas Blunck. I still install this one first as it's just so basic.

CarlosAg's CodeTranslator - One of the first, and many say, the best. An AJAXy Code Converter that'll do to and from C# and VB.NET.

The Angle Bracket Tax (XML/HTML Stuff)

XPathMania from DonXML - This is an extension to the XML Editor within Visual Studio 2005 that allows you to execute XPath queries against the current document dynamically. Created under the Mvp.Xml umbrella project - also a kickbutt XML extension library.

Mindreef SOAPscope - The original. The glory forever, this is more than an Add-In, it's a complete XML Web Services design studio. It's a bargain and works even better when setup in a workgroup. It keeps a database of all Web Services traffic, but it's more than a sniffer. It also analyzes data for WS-I compliance and allows for record and replay of messages. "It's Tivo for Web Services!" It'll cost you a bit, but if you do Web Services all day, it's worth the money.

SSW Link Auditor - C#-based Link Auditor that crawls your site looking for bad links and makes a fine report. SSW has a pile (like 60) of great products. They do cost money, but they are very modestly priced. Disclosure, I know the owner, he's a nice guy.

RexV - Another excellent, better laid out RegEx evaluator, useful for RegEx's that'll run in JavaScript.

Roy Osherove's Regulator - Roy entered the RegEx fray with a bang, and with syntax highlighting and web services integration with regexlib.com. The very definition of slick.

RegEx Visualizers for VS 2005 - Roy has extended his toolkit to include Debug Visualizers for Regular Expressions, based on his Regulator code base.

Regulazy - Currently at version 1.01, this tool is a great way for newbies to start using Regular Expressions. Write regular expressions without prior knowledge of the syntax!"So you've got a problem, and you want to use Regular Expressions to solve it. Now you've got two problems."

Launchers

Slickrun - still the sexy favorite, this little floating magic bar keeps me moving fast, launching programs, macros and explorer with its shiny simplicity. Tell them I sent you.

Also available is an Open Source project called MagicWords (not updated since Feb 07) that looks similar to SlickRun.

SmartStartMenu - Shaun Harrington has created this elegant little application that lives in the task bar and automatically indexes the list of items in your Start Menu for quick access with the speed of AutoComplete. It will take system commands, paths to launch explorer, even UNC paths. Launch anything on your system with less than 4 keystrokes. It also adds new context menus to Explorer like CopyPath and Open in DOS box to Explorer.

Martin Plante, hot off his gig at Xceed has created slimKEYS, a "universal hotkey manager" with a simple .NET plugin architecture. If you've got ideas or thoughts, visit the slimCODE Forums.Have you ever wanted to bind something to Shift-Ctrl-Alt-Window-Q but didn't know how to grab a global hotkey? This will launch programs, watch folders, and find files. It has great potential as more and more plugins appear.

Humanized Enso - Unquestionably the smoothest and most interesting user interface of the launchers, Enso pops up as the Caps-Lock key is held down, and performs the command when the key is released. It takes a minute to understand, but it's a very clean UI metaphor.

Tidy Start Menu- If you still love the Start Menu, but you've installed everything on this list and your menu takes up more room than you have pixels, this program will organize it all.

Colibri - The closest thing so far, IMHO, to Quicksilver on Windows, although this little gem has a slow startup time, it runs fast! It's being actively developed and promises integration with a dozen third party programs. It also formally supports "Portable Mode" for those of you who like to carry your apps around on a USB key.

DashCommand - The world continues to try to make QuickSilver for Windows and the very fresh DashCommand is a good start. Dash does a nice job of using the current context (like the currently selected folder) for it's commands. Select a folder in Explorer, call up Dash and say Zip and it's zipped.

Launchy - Another do it all application, this one Open Source and written entirely in .NET, Launchy binds to Alt-Space by default. This app also has the potential to be Quicksilver like if it start including support for stringing together verb-noun combos. It's pretty as hell and totally skinnable (there's TWO Quicksilver skins included!)

AppRocketSkyLight -this little bar sits at the top of your screen, popping down an active list of Bookmarks, Programs, Music, Web Queries and more. It's unclear if this tool is being enhanced for future versions as folks have reported not hearing from the company in a while.

ActiveWords - Arguably the most minimal of these launchers (as it can have no UI at all if you like!), but the most configurable. ActiveWords watches everything you type, in every application, so anything you've just typed could potentially be used by you to launch a program, a macro, send email, or give you Auto-Correct in any application. Check out their screencast/demos and their scripting language. It also is the only launcher (I've seen) with explicit support for the Tablet PC and allows ink to trigger an "Active Word."

DirectAccess - Similar to ActiveWords in some ways, but with a fresher UI, this speedy app lets you build up collections of system-wide abbreviations for quick access.

Dave's Quick Search Bar - Written originally in JavaScript and now written in magic and ensconced in voodoo, this little Toolbar sits in your Windows Task bar (or wherever you choose to drag it) and supports a huge community of macro writers who've enabled it as a Calculator, Web Searcher, People Finder, Currency Converter and literally hundreds of other tasks via simple to write plugins. Very actively developed and on the web for over 5 years (that's like 100 people years). It even has a Search Wizard to create your own web searches by example.

Google Desktop - Google Desktop has an option that let's you use it as a quick program launcher along with fantastic search abilities by tapping Ctrl-Ctrl.

Find and Run Robot - Lightweight, small, quiet until you need it. This little application allows for tunable heuristics to make it work like you think. Demo Screencast here.

Run++ - The only ClickOnce launcher I've found. Requires .NET 2.0. It was developed using the free Visual Studio Express!

Window Management

Ultramon - When an item is on this list twice, it's on purpose. Ultramon is the first thing I install after Windows. I sure wish someone would just buy this guy's company.

GridMove - Some how I keep turning to Grid Move. I've got three large monitors and this simple little application causes your windows to "snap" to configurable locations. Less resizing, more work.

ZMover - I'm not quite ready to give this guy my $15, but I'm close. ZMover keeps a small database of your applications and lets you set preferences for size, position and Z-order. Basic, and should have been built into Windows.

Stuff I Just Dig

DarkRoom - When I just want everything to go away so I can think, I don't just want a clean desktop, I want a Dark Room to work in. I love this text editor for getting my thoughts straight. I also use it for more dramatic presentations.

InstallPad- How long until someone creates an InstallPad application list containing the complete contents of this post? I dunno, but it'd be cool. InstallPad takes care of downloading and installing the latest versions of all your favorite apps. What a great way to get from a freshly paved machine to something usable by me. :) This tool hasn't been updated in a long time, but it's still cool.

Foxit Reader for Windows - Fast as hell. Version 2.0 is even better. This little PDF reader requires no installer and is tiny and fast. Did I mention fast? Good bye, Acrobat. Sorry.

Virtual TI-89 [Emulator]- Sometimes CALC.EXE doesn't cut it, and I want a REAL scientific calculator for Windows, so I emulate the one I used in college.

XPLite and 2000Lite - Sometimes Windows is just too fat. XPLite has a crippled free trial, but the purchased version really lets you customize your Windows System by subtraction. That means, removing as many unused or unneeded services as you'd like, creating the tiniest of systems. Great for making small VMs.

VisiCalc(vc.exe) - Because I just like having a copy of VisiCalc in my utils folder. I use it occasionally. Works fine on Vista.

DiskView- The most powerful disk usage program I've found, DiskView integrates nicely with Explorer and includes SMART disk health statistics.

VLC Media Player - Screw all other media players. When you just want to watch video. Bam.

WhiteBoard Photo- Has to be seen to be believed. Takes a skewed low-contrast, bad photo of a Whiteboard and automatically corrects it and offers up a clean white sheet of paper with a color corrected and keystoned photo of your whiteboard. Check out the demo. Way expensive though.

FAR File Manager - Norton Commander is back, it is still text mode, it's still lightning speed and it's from the makers of RAR File Archiver. I'll race you. I get FAR, you get Explorer.

BlogJet - I freaking love this little guy. Works great with DasBlog, supports spellcheck, file upload, makes clean HTML, and includes Music Detection support as well as posting of Audio to your blog. Version 2.0 is even better with integration with all major blog readers and browsers. Looks like Office, too.

SyncBack - How can you not like a company named 2BrightSparks? There's a Freeware SE version as well. Golden, with a clean crisp configuration UI, I use this tool internally for scheduled backups and syncs between machines within my family network.

TimeSnapper - Tivo for your desktop? Kind of. TimeSnapper can't give you files back, but it'll take a screenshot in the background at user-configurable intervals and let you answer the burning question - What was I doing all day at work? Free and only 80k. Another brilliant idea blatantly stolen off my list of things to do and executed by folks more clever than I. Kudos.

AutoHotKey- Programming for non-programmers. It's a complete automation system for Windows without the frustration of VBScript. This is the Windows equivalent of AppleScript for Windows. (That's a very good thing.)

Tor Anonymous Browsing- This tool lets your anonymous your web browsing and publishing. Use it when you're on the road, or staying in a hotel. Try PortableTor if you want to run it all of your USB key.

Low-Level Utilities

The Ultimate Boot CD and the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows - I've downloaded and saved everything from BootDisks.com, including Win95 and Win98 boot disks and a DOS 6.22 disk. The boot CDs are life-savers and should be taken to all family gatherings where the relatives KNOW you're a computer person. They'll expect you to save their machines before the turkey is served.

Bart's Preinstalled Enviroment (BartPE) - Ever want to just boot quickly off a CD and get some data off an NTFS drive? What about network access? This is a bootdisk you'll keep in your bag all the time.

PSPVideo9 - Meant for the Playstation Portable, this utility is more useful that you think. It creates MP4 squished video you can use anywhere.

Daemon, Virtual CD ISO Image Mounter - This is the utility that lets you mount an ISO image as a Drive Letter...nice to keep a library of CDs around on a Firewire drive. Very robust. Works well on Vista 64.

Synergy - Share the same keyboard between two systems...I use this to move the mouse cursor out the right side of my monitor and onto the one that's connected to my Mac.

Process Explorer - The ultimate replacement for TaskManager. Includes the amazing Find DLL feature to find out what processes have your DLL in memory.

Sid2User - CommandLine Util to take a SID and get a Real Name to, for example, get the local name of the "Everyone" user.

Strings - Gives you more detail that you can handle about text hidden within binaries.

Websites and Bookmarklets

TinyUrl.com - Makes big urls tiny. For when you're emailing a long URL to someone and you KNOW they will freakout it if wraps.

Visibone HTML/JavaScript Reference- These guys make a great physical paper reference, but they also have a great .HTML file you can download for free that has ASCII charts and Color references. It's a link I keep close by.

Del.icio.us - A social distributed bookmarks manager. It took me a bit to get into it, but their Bookmarklets that you drag into your Links toolbar won me over. All my bookmarks are here now and I can always find what I need, wherever I am. Very RESTful.

Instant Rails - No muss, no fuss. A one-stop Ruby on Rails solution with no installer! Great if you're paranoid about changing your system.

Browser Add-Ins

Urlograph - I don't know how I lived without this util. It adds a button to internet explorer that cleans filthy URLs (Amazon, Google, MSDN, Google Groups, etc) and puts the smallest URL possible in your clipboard. Not to be confused with TinyUrl.com, this util removes the fluff and makes Urls hackable again.

UrlKicker - If you DO end up with a giant wrapped URL with line breaks, this little tray icon will remove those breaks and launch the browser. Source included.

WebDeveloper for FireFox - If you're the last developer to download FireFox, or you're holding off, WebDeveloper is a solid reason to switch to FireFox NOW. It's amazing and has to be used to be believed. It consolidates at least 2 dozens useful functions for those who sling ASP.NET or HTML. And if you're a CSS person, the realtime CSS editing is pretty hot.

IEView and ViewInFireFox - These two utils go together. Both are FireFox extensions, but they are yin to the others yang. They add View in Internet Explorer and View in FireFox context menu items to their respective browsers. Great if you develop, but also great if you tend to visit sites that aren't browser agnostic.

Things Windows Forgot

Ultramon - Why this kind of functionality isn't built in, I don't know. But it'll keep the guy at RealTimeSoftware in business! Ultramon is the ultimate utility for Multiple Monitor systems. It's most significant features, IMHO, is the addition of TaskBars that are monitor specific, and the addition of buttons NEXT to Minimize and Maximize to move open windows over to other monitors. Great if you've got 2 monitors, but a MUST if you've got more than 2!

Vista Codec Package - There's a pile of Video Formats out there that don't work out of the box on Windows, or, you're only able to view them in certain applications. However, if you install the right Codec (compresser/decompressor) you can view them anywhere. Installing Codecs is tricky though, and the Vista Codec Package takes the effort of out of it.

AutoHotKey AutoCorrect WikiPedia Script - Do you like AutoCorrect in Word? Grab this AutoHotKey script while you still can! It's cross-application AutoCorrect. Works in any application and corrects the world's most common (English) typing mistakes. Laziness abounds!

Tail for Windows - There's lots of ways to get this functionality, including the GNU Utils for Windows and BareTail. The point is, it should have been included! A "tail -f" for Windows. Great if you work with programs that write to log files and you want to watch the log as it's being written. Also has keyword highlighting so you can see things get visually flagged as they go by.

BgInfo from SysInternals - If you log into a lot of boxes remotely and always wonder, where the hell is this? This wallpaper tool creates custom wallpapers with all the information you'd need, like IP Address, Box Name, Disk Space, and it's totally configurable.

SmartFtp - Say what you like, but I've tried them all, and SmartFtp is flat-out the best FTP app out there for Windows. And they get a +1 for having a 64-bit version.

ProcessTamer - Beat back those processes demanding 100% CPU. Raise the priority of the process that has focus. ProcessTamer makes it happen. Sure sped up Outlook on my system.

DonationCoder.com is a treasure trove of donationware. Check out the complete collection.

SharpKeys - Do you want your Right-CTRL key to map to the Windows Key? I do. Why can't I do it with Windows' Control Panel? Because Windows forgot. Thankfully Randy didn't. Remap any key in Windows.

Marc Merrit's Event Log Monitor (EventReader) - Sits in the tray and pops up a nice XP-style baloon whenever the event log is written to. I hate tray icons but I love balloon tooltip info, so it's a good tradeoff.

NetMeter - Clean and simple, how much traffic is running over my network?

TrueCrypt - I love that this is free. Create a file or partition and encrypt the heck out of it. You can even encrypt a secret drive that'll have "decoy" documents that you can give the bad guys when they torture the password out of you.

RealVNC- When RemoteDesktop is a hassle and PCAnywhere is lame...VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. It is remote control software which allows you to view and interact with one computer (the "server") using a simple program (the "viewer") on another computer anywhere on the Internet.

URL Bandit- Monitors the clipboard and saves all URLs that go by in the click-stream. If you copy a 1 meg file to the clipboard, URL Bandit can find, for example, all 200 URLS within it. Yum.

TouchCursor - If you move the cursor a lot, but you don't like moving your hands, why not make I,J,K,L (where you right hand is already) move the cursor? I'm not sure it's worth $20, but it works exactly as advertised.

Synchronex - A file synchronizer, sure, but not just any file synchronizer, this one supports local, UNC, FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, ZIP and versioning. And only $20. Oy. I use it for backing up my blog on a schedule. An obtuse scripting format, more complex than SyncBack SE, but more detail oriented and powerful. Once you set it and forget it, IJW (It Just Works.) Brilliant.

Outlook AddIns and Life Organizers

Sciral Consistancy- A strange little tool with a stranger name, this little jewel helps you get those niggling little "every once in a while but have to get done" tasks done.

ToDoList - This popular CodeProject submissions is a surprisingly full-featured ToDo list manager. It also is an excellent reminder that useful stuff can still be done in MFC and it contains a number of useful utility classes. Tasks are stored in XML. It's a very useful tool for Getting Things Done because it encourages you to device and sub-divide your tasks into smaller, more management chunks.

Windows Live Local for Outlook - Map your appointment and meeting locations directly from within Outlook. Get driving directions, print detailed maps, find optimized trip routes, and estimate travel times. Receive reminders based on the estimated travel time. Even find the nearest Quiznos!

SyncMyCal - I've got data in Outlook Calendar and Google Calendar, and SyncMyCal was the easiest and least expensive way for me to get these two calendars in sync.

PocketMod - Has nothing to do with Outlook, but everything to do with getting organized. This tiny book is created by some creative folding and your printer. Design it and print it yourself for free.

gMove Outlook Migration - The things gMove does could arguably be done with a manual process, but that process is tedious and often error prone. The price was low and it worked exactly as advertised when I moved thousands of emails from Outlook to Gmail.

Windows Explorer Integration (and other Integrate-y things)

LinkShellEx - This tool subsumes the tool below with the same functionality and more! Manage all your junctions and hard links with clean Explorer Integration. If you're digging Junctions (NTFS Reparse Points/Symbolic Links) like I am, then you're lamenting the fact that Windows Explorer is CLUELESS about them. Well, no longer, thanks to Travis and his Junction Overlay for Explorer. This tool isn't really needed in Vista, FYI.

ExecParm - Like Right Click|RunAs...it's even better with ExecParm adding the ability to execute with parameters. Everything else at this site is awesome also, including ClipName.

ASP.NET Development Helper - Nikhil, a dev lead on ASP.NET 2.0, created this wonderfully elegant developer helper that plugs into IE and gives you lots of insight into what's happening in ASP.NET while you develop. Want a FireFox version? Sure.

PowerMenu- Great little hook that adds item to the System Menu that let you change the Transparency or Priority of the current window.

SummerProperties- a Shell Extension that adds a Tab to File Properties that calculates the file's checksum.

PrivBar - This util is great if you're trying to avoid running as Administrator. It adds a bar to Explorer that uses text and color to let you know what Privilege level you're running at.

NDepend - This amazing app does dependency analysis on your .NET application and presents the findings as a TreeMap.

devMetrics - devMetrics is a community edition tool for measuring various attributes of your C# code so that you can accurately assess your product for quality and maintainability. I use it to measure cyclomatic complexity and abuse people during code reviews. A great way to add static analysis to your automated builds!

LibCheck - Highly recommended. This is the tool that Microsoft uses to compare builds of public APIs. We use it at Corillian to generate reports showing what public methods and properties have changed between builds. (Note, be sure to read this gotcha when you start messing around.) You'll need to recompile it for 2.0 until Microsoft released a newer version.

TypeMock - We really started to lean on Mock Objects at Corillian in the last year. TypeMock was the most flexible and powerful for what I needed. It does cost money.

RhinoMocks - The best free alternative, RhinoMocks has a very clean API and extensive documentation, and it's supported by some very prolific developers. Recommended.

TabletPC Indispensables

ArtRage - It's free, and it's amazing. If you remember being blown away the first time you used Kai's Power Tools, you'll feel the same way with ArtRage. In the You can create some AMAZING art with an organic quality I've just never seen on a PC. If you do one thing this weekend, install it and use the "Load Tracing Paper" Feature.

Paint.NET- This is a must have tool Tablet PC or not, but since the 2.0 version added Ink support, you'll find it very comfortable for making annotations to screenshots. Now on version 2.7, it keeps getting better.

MaxiVista - Use your Tablet PC as a virtual second or third monitor! I use my M205 as a third monitor that keeps Outlook open. Now MaxiVista Version 2 is a software Virtual Keyboard and Mouse! When I don't want to use the Tablet as an extension of my main computer, I want to use my main computer's keyboard and mouse as an extension of my Tablet!

Wallpaper Gyro - The Toshiba M205 has a Gyroscope installed so no matter how you hold it, when you press the hardware "orient" button on the edge of the screen the system will switch to the correct orientation. Wallpaper Gyro will not only automatically change your wallpaper when the orientation changes, but it allows you to have different wallpaper for each orientation!

Alias SketchBook Pro - It costs, but it has a very different style and goal (IMHO) than ArtRage, and the output is different in philosophy. ArtRage is largely about paint, and Alias is about pencils and sketching.

Physics Illustrator - This one helped me out when I went back to finish my degree and was stuck in Physics 203.

New York Times Crossword Puzzle - This one is the bomb-diggity. Even the wife digs it. The only complaint is it's not re-sizable, but the Zoom to 640x480 feature of the Toshiba Tablet fixes that. The Crossword app lets you download today's Crossword for solving off line. Fantastic for the bus or train ride to work.

Pool for Tablet - This is worth at least $20, but it's FREE. A wonderful game of Pool with all the graphics and physics to make you smile, and it's all TabletPC enabled. Be sure to try playing over a wireless network with a friend.

Snipping Tool - A new tool that some folks haven't seen yet, this lets you "cut out" portions of the screen for annotation. It's the Pen's take on the traditional screen shot tool.

Andy's MetaBuilders - Talk about good karma. When you put this much goodness and free ASP.NET controls into the world, you must get a lot of great parking spots. Check out the dozens of ASP.NET Controls here.

ELMAH (Error Logging Modules and Handlers) - I marked this one as new because I want folks to know about it. It's been updated for 2.0 and it's wonderful. An HttpModule and Handler that will capture and log all Yellow Screen of Death messages your ASP.NET site experiences. And it will even give you an RSS Feed of the errors! Great for anyone who wants to instrument a site without recompiling.

Visual Studio.NET Add-Ins

CodeProject Browser Add-In - A very cool idea. This Add-In integrates CodeProject with Visual Studio and keeps all your samples neatly organized. It'll download and upzip them also, and maintains a list of favorite CodeProject articles. This is a great way to build the CodeProject community and folks should now about it.

GhostDoc - Now in its 2.11 version, GhostDoc attempts to generate C# documentation that can be gleaned from the name and type of methods and properties. One to watch, and while it sometimes guesses wrong, it's a completely unique Add-In worth your download. Now supports Visual Studio 2008!

Regionerate - This actively developed tool enforces layout and region rules on your C# code. You can define and publish your own styles.

DPack - A packaged collection of Visual Studio 2003, 2005 and 2008 tools. Kind of a CodeRush/Reshaper-lite, but possibly just what the doctor ordered.

devMetrics - devMetrics is a "community edition" tool for measuring various attributes of your C# code so that you can accurately assess your product for quality and maintainability. I use it to measure cyclomatic complexity and abuse people during code reviews.

Resource Refactoring Tool - This aids in Internationalization of your apps by adding an "Extract to Resource" option in the Visual Studio Refactor menu.

Mindreef SOAPscope - The original. The glory forever, this is more than an Add-In, it's a complete XML Web Services design studio. It's a bargain and works even better when setup in a workgroup. It keeps a database of all Web Services traffic, but it's more than a sniffer. It also analyzes data for WS-I compliance and allows for record and replay of messages. "It's Tivo for Web Services!"

Cache Visualizer - What's in the ASP.NET cache? Find out with this VS2005 Visualizer.

Consolas Font Pack - Consolas is a great programmers font, and while it was only available on Vista, Microsoft made it available for Visual Studio 2005 on Windows 2003 and XP.

TestDriven.NET - If you're serious about TDD, stop fooling with NUnitGui and Attach Process and start using TestDriven.NET. It's a simple as Right-Click -> Test With -> Debugger.

ASPX Edit Helper Add-In - As good as the VS.NET ASPX Designer is, many folks, myself included, like to type the markup directly. This Helper adds some easy shortcuts for adding server controls and fills in runat="server" for you when you type Server Control markup yourself.

pinvoke.net- Adam Nathan continues to innovate with an add-in that lets you "Insert PInvoke Signature" from the VS.NET Editor by communicating with a server-side repository with best-practice signatures to make calling unmanaged code a breeze. Also, be sure to visit the PInvoke.NET Wiki.

SmartAssembly - Code pruning, obfuscations, and automatic exception reporting. A great way to take your .NET application to the next level.

AnkhSVN - Integrated support for the Subversion Source Control System with Visual Studio 2003 and 2005.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

wow what a huge list! Thanks again! If I ever need a dev tool I come here first.

I must speak up about Autohotkey though. First you have it listed twice. First instance -correct. Second - incorrect - this is just from your old list. The autocorrect *is* an AHK script but the way you have it is misleading.

Also, GridMove is based on AHK too :)

I am not sure how often you use it either, but I use my custom made hotkeys/functions DAILY. They save me many many keystrokes. Here are some examples that are pertinent to programming (# meaning the winkey)- #w - open command prompt- #n - start new email- #z - new n2 window

- some autotypes like c-c-o-o to autotype the filepath to my project (useful for open file dialogues)- autotypes for passwords - like in SQL studio - send password, tab, space, tab, enter for the standard new connection popup window

- S-S-F will autotype SELECT * FROM or s-t-f >> SELECT TOP 1 * FROM

- and my favourite... I remapped F1 to toggle between VS05 and Firefox windows - but when switching to FF it sends ALT-D + Enter to refresh the page automatically. (I don't have to "run" my project from VS all the time)

I have to say that "RegexBuddy" is my regular expression tool of choice (http://www.regexbuddy.com/). It allows you to debug regex's, assists you in building them, allows testing with real data, and even produces the code for the regex in C#/VB.NET, Perl, Python, Ruby, Java, Javascript, Delphi, and more.

I've tried all of the regex tools you mentioned and RegexBuddy is hands down the best regex tool I have ever used (pay or otherwise). It costs $39, but is well, well worth the money. And no, I am not associated with the company or know them in any way...I just love their product.

Nice list, indeed. I found a couple of useful or interesting tools I haven't heard of yet. There is, however, one little mistake: You write "Also check out Resharper (C# only)". Well, version 3.0 is out for two months now, an since then ReSharper is no longer limited to C#, it fully supports VB.NET too now.

Greetings from Good Ole' Germany. :)

The Janitor

Friday, August 24, 2007 8:32:45 AM UTC

Yo,

just wanted to point out a very nice text editor, that blows notepad++, notepad2 & others away: PSpad - check it! It dosen't have a nice plugin architecture, but has all the things that any dev would like to have :)

If you're into OneNote as much as I am, you're already running the task bar icon (see options in OneNote). You're a step away from easy partial screen shots. WindowsKey + S. Not as fancy as some of the other tools, but if you have OneNote, you already own it.

Todd Price

Friday, August 24, 2007 2:26:25 PM UTC

If you like DiskView, you absolutely should have a look at FolderSizes. It's easily the best of the disk space visualization and reporting tools, in my opinion. And I've pretty much tried all of them.

ERDCommander when BartPE doesn't cut it. It saved me a few times when Windows couldn't boot anymore because of a bad driver, bad registry entry or whenever you need to work on Windows from the "outside".

12 different launchers? Some one needs to develop one that does it all.

abdu

Friday, August 24, 2007 5:07:21 PM UTC

Thanks for the list Scott. You just burned a whole morning of productivity. On the bright side I think I discovered some new tools that will help make me more productive in the future.

Say, I was wondering what you thought about http://www.tiddlywiki.com/It's something that I use alot to keep notes and attempt to be organized.Have you used it? Is it worthy to add to the list?

Thanks, Anton

Anton P.

Friday, August 24, 2007 5:29:11 PM UTC

Scott, thanks once again for taking the time to compile and post this list!

As Florian mentioned, I noticed that Mozy isn't present on the list. Scott, what are you using these days to fill the role of "even if my house burns down, my data is still safe"? (Maybe you could address this topic in a future blog post or Hanselminutes discussion?)

Exactly what is so great about Query Express? And how does not suck compared to Query Analyzer? Seems like a clone that does not address the shortcomings of Query Analyzer and is missing a couple of its features (for instance, does not support Ctrl+B shortcut).

Scott - thanks for getting a small co. like CrossLoop on your huge list. It inspires us and we appreciate your support!Please feel free to email me if you or your readers have any questions!Have a great weekend

Robert - "Query Express is a simple Query Analyzer look-alike, but being small and free it can be run where the SQL Server client tools are not installed or licensed. This makes it especially useful as a query tool for MSDE and SQL Express. It also connects to Oracle and other OLE-DB compliant databases. "

It's because it's small, free, no install, only 100k and I can run it from an USB stick on machines that can't have SQL Client Tools.

I love your blog, and I just contributed some $ to your cause. This blogs makes me a better developer, so this really doesn't feel like a donation, but simply giving back to those who give freely to me.

Eric Lau

Friday, August 24, 2007 7:27:07 PM UTC

I have to ditto Eric Lau... I'm becoming a better developer via Scott's evangelizing.. I've become aware of such cool technology as PowerShell and software practices such as continuous integration.. I'll be sure to make a contribution as well as a token of my gratitude.

Anton P.

Friday, August 24, 2007 8:01:58 PM UTC

There goes my weekend - thanks! How am I supposed to be productive while trying to research all these tools to make me more productive? :)

A couple more:goScreen - even if you have multiple monitors this is great for decluttering your screen by using virtual desktops. Use hotkeys to quickly switch between your Outlook/SQL/Dev/whatever desktops. There's a lot of them out there - this is the best I've found.

SmartOutline - Visual Studio add-in to collapse/outline blocks of code. I've found it especially handy for CSS and .js files.

michael

Friday, August 24, 2007 9:16:26 PM UTC

Just a footnote for everyone, the "cirth" tool now has it's own domain. It's located at: Nregex.com - it should be forwarded but just in case the connection is not obvious.

"As soon as WHS supports Vista 64, it'll be over for TrueImage for me."

Why is that?

abdu

Friday, August 24, 2007 10:37:24 PM UTC

Scott, nice update as always...I get back to the tool list a couple of times a year and always find something that I had not seen that is very usefull.

One utility that has save me a lot of time in the last year is called Autopatcher (http://autopatcher.com/whatsautopatcher/). It is an application that includes all of the updates for different versions of Windows. When you reinstall a PC it allows you to get it up to date on all the updates that have been released in one unattended step. You can even burn it to a CD or copy to a usbdisk and run it from there.

I always take it with me to family meetings :)

Best of all, its free.

Jose

Friday, August 24, 2007 11:08:17 PM UTC

Wow, I am not even a developer (or anything even close) and I found a handful of tools I will start using.

The links for ProcExp and AutoRuns are broken .Other than that, great job :D.

sirrocco

Saturday, August 25, 2007 9:22:19 AM UTC

Hi Scott, you owe it to yourself to take 5 mins from your day to check out Charles - an HTTP proxy / HTTP monitor / Reverse Proxy. It is so unbelievably useful, I am not even going to start to list the way I have used it since I installed it, it will take too long. It renders half of Firebug redundant. That said, the other half of Firebug remains utterly peerless.

Olly

Saturday, August 25, 2007 9:48:30 AM UTC

You ought to give us more notice that you are going to update the tool list. Will help us plan for a few days off to make the next year or so more productive. I have started falling in love with PortableApps. A bunch of you applications are neat/clean and portable. It might be nice to mention that or maybe have a separate category for 'Portable Applications'.

Praveen

Saturday, August 25, 2007 1:53:10 PM UTC

Wow! Comprehensive list. One utility that i found missing tho' was a password manager. <a href ="http://keepass.info/'>Keepass</a> is definitely worth a mention.

Rohan Wali

Saturday, August 25, 2007 3:49:36 PM UTC

Scott,

You should seriously consider joining http://wakoopa.com/ . This site keeps track of any software that you use, how long you use it for, etc. You can have a software profile there, comment on stuff you use, and why you like it, etc.

Microsoft does supply tail, although not by default in Windows . It is part of the Windows Resource Kit Tools. The bundle also contains a lot of other tools that may interest you.

Felix

Saturday, August 25, 2007 8:47:57 PM UTC

Scott: TrueImage boots from a CD also.TrueImage can restore to a different hardware and supposedly soon it can restore 32bit systems to 64bit systems. Those guys always impress me. I think they were the first to create images while the OS is running That's when I switched from Ghost.

I thought it was a price issue for you.

Abdu

Sunday, August 26, 2007 6:51:46 AM UTC

Talking about password managers, I also use KeePass, I use FolderShare to keep my password DB in Sync between computers and it works great. Clipperz is a password manager to watch out for, it stores your passwords online in an encrypted form that only gets decrypted in javascript on the client. I should get around to writing a SideBar app that interoperates with this, can not get myself to trust javascript on a web site with all my precious passwords ...

Thought you might like to add Coderanger.com BuildIT to your apps list, it can be used for automated builds, or any other repetitive sequence of tasks. Personally I have used it for mailing lists, doing database backups, running regular downloads or functions and all sorts. Its pretty cool and free.

Sam- You spoke my words :)"can not get myself to trust javascript on a web site with all my precious passwords" I will still go through the trouble of keeping the password db file in sync on all computers than trust an online utility. If I were to use an online utility it would be Passpack (http://www.passpack.com).

Just to add another into the realm. Along with WebDeveloper for FireFox/Firebug I recommend iMacros for Firefox.https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3863It is very useful for quick and easy regression web testing. If you think Watir is too complicated, this is for you.

Here is a short test script for hanzelman.com :)http://tinyurl.com/ywtakq

James Q

Sunday, August 26, 2007 6:50:52 PM UTC

Hey Scott,

Thanks for putting all these links together... I am currently dissecting my way around (probably for the next month). One tool that I did not see listed was Red Gate Sql Compare & Sql Data Compare. Red Gate has some really awesome tools... Although they are not free...

Red Gate Sql Compare allows you to compare SQL Server databases and shows differences... I had to use this for a client and I have been ecstatic about the tool... This tool is great in development vs. production staging comparisons... It has saved me so much time in not having to re-deploy my stored procs, views, table changes, etc. I can just deploy my changed code.

I definitely recommend you add it for your 2008 list.

Thanks,

Blake TheissThe Art and Science of Businesshttp://www.quilogy.com

Blake Theiss

Monday, August 27, 2007 12:28:10 AM UTC

Rohan,

If you intend to use PassPack make sure you have a read of the Clipperz blog. Clipperz knows less about you than passpack (which imho is a good thing).

Great list, but one utility that I use far more than any other and that's not on your list is Total Commander (from http://www.ghisler.com).

It nominally replaces the Windows Explorer, but it has so many inbuilt utilities that it also replaces any number of others with a quick and better option, it's the one tool I truly cannot live without. For example, there's a permanent command line, inbuilt zip (as well as allowing numerous other compression tools through plugins and external utilities), inbuilt diff, FTP, SFTP, WebDAV all tie in seamlessly. But best and most useful of all is the inbuilt file viewer. Allows you to open just about any file to either view its text, image, excel or word data, binary content, hex data, etc. without having to load the corresponding application. Saves you a bundle on loading time, but it's also saved me from inadvertently opening a virus at one stage.

It's not free but at around $30 it's cheap, plus it gives you a fully functional trial version that doesn't expire with lifetime free updates.

Sorry for being pedantic, but a "steep learning curve" means you can learn very quickly -- think of the curve as amount learned vs. time. It is the shallow curve that means you'll be thumbing through manuals for weekks.

Madrikh

Monday, August 27, 2007 12:23:32 PM UTC

Hey Scott!

Thanks for putting the list together, and thanks for the awesome podcasts!

For screen shot capture MWSnap is another great utility. The Current version is capable of capturing the whole desktop, a highlighted window, an active menu, a control, or a fixed or free rectangular part of the screen.

You can download it here: http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html

Clipmate is awesome. You can create containers to manage clips. Export clips, custom screen prints, etc etc. I use it to copy cool code snippets and use them later. Also a handy backup tool, I copy all my code before saving, just in case I get a memory dump. (you know developers we always have too much open at once)(or an Oracle export running....). Sometimes having the timestamp of clips helps with timesheets.

Does anyone here use EditPadPro, which I believe is made by the same developer as RegexBuddy? I use the regular expression search and replace feature to make easy pickings of .NET repetitive code.

Also, any suggestions when it comes to the best SQL query tool around? Something fast, connects to most major databases, preferably free, and with Intellisense?

Isabel

Friday, August 31, 2007 1:09:26 AM UTC

I almost forgot. Thanks a lot for the great list, Scott! Big help for noobs like me.

Isabel

Friday, August 31, 2007 1:50:57 AM UTC

The list is simply GREAT!

Michael Chan

Friday, August 31, 2007 3:02:48 AM UTC

Scott, could you explain why the recommendation for Web Services Studio Express? Its UI is pretty, but it doesn't actually DO anything as far as I can tell.

I use WebServiceStudio all the time for basic testing of web services just because it's fast, free & lightweight, but bare-bones. SOAPSonar is heavy and slow to load (free Personal Edition makes up for that a little, at least), but much more complete and a good choice if you have more complex web service testing needs.

When I wrote a bulk loader and extracter for work, I had to deal with extremely large CSV and XML documents. * CsvEd: Far faster to work with than Excel, doesn't reformat data columns, and is extremely flexible! * XML Notepad: Unlike XmlSpy, this utility can load extremely large (>1GB) files gracefully. If you ever have a huge XML document which was malformed, you'll absolutely love how it loads and immediately tells you where the errors are.

Ben

Sunday, September 02, 2007 9:46:56 AM UTC

I think the Web Service Studio Express recommendation was an accident on Scott's part. Scott was probably using Web Service Studio (not "-express"), which was posted a while back on the (defunct) GotDotNet here: http://www.gotdotnet.com/Community/UserSamples/Details.aspx?SampleGuid=65A1D4EA-0F7A-41BD-8494-E916EBC4159C

The "Web Service Studio Express" project that Scott referenced does nothing more than download a WSDL file and parse it. It is a stub for future functionality but it certainly does not DO anything, not even File menu --> Exit. It's apparently just a starter stub with some rough milestones in place.

Regarding Colibri, one of the cool features for me is quicker access to Google's search. I reprogrammed the short cut keys to Alt + Space and then start typing "Google", hit Tab and then type in a search criteria. Hitting enter will open the browser to Google's page with the results of search.

Nice thing about Colibri, it has learned that I use Google a lot, so I only have to type "g" then tab then search then enter. Fast. I save many "oogle"s in my day.

I'd like to second PilotBob's suggestion that you check out Wakoopa (http://wakoopa.com/). Your tool list is a great resource, but I think it would be pretty interesting to see which of these things you are really using on a daily basis. I'm sure many of us would be love to subscribe to a feed of "What Scott's Using Today". Give it a look and thanks for all your contributions to the developer community.

Brian DeHamer

Saturday, September 08, 2007 2:54:49 PM UTC

I've been usuing EditPad Pro as my notepad replacement, along with RegexBuddy from JGSoft for a while now... both work well for me.

Think about adding FFDSHOW to your list. It's a one CODEC install that allows you to play almost everything. CODEC packs always seem to mess up my system, but FFDSHOW is always one of the first things I install. Highly recommended!

I gotta tell ya, for screen capturing, I love cropper http://blogs.geekdojo.net/brian/articles/Cropper.aspxIt does what it needs to do and stays the F outta my way otherwise. Exactly what programs need to do. Also very pluggable.

I was just wondering, but the GhostIt page is no longer available. Where can I go to download it. I searched Google, and didnt get anything. All the other stuff so far has worked, cept this. Can someone give me a link?

Eric

Monday, September 24, 2007 10:04:32 AM UTC

Check this [http://www.think-less-do-more.com/avafind/] its a very fast file search app that is fater than what is available in the market.

San

Monday, September 24, 2007 8:06:48 PM UTC

Application mashup... you can use PowerShell inside of Console with a trivial edit of the console.xml configuration file.

Chad

Tuesday, September 25, 2007 8:22:47 AM UTC

hi, please somebody help me!

I need a Decompiler Software Tools for Visual Basic 6.0 (full)

Where can i find it?

Regard and Thanks

William

OneSoftware

Friday, September 28, 2007 1:34:45 PM UTC

WOW... the list is simply amazing... !I've found many potentially useful apps for me. Thanks a lot for that.It will take weeks to try them all :)

I just wonder why Total Commander is not on the list.. I can't belive you use so many great utils and don't use TC.I can't live without it.. it's my #1 app. The first one I decided to pay for. The one and only that has it's own directory in my programs folder (is not categorized like the rest). I do not even have to install it when I need to reinstall my Windows, it's always there and the desktop shortcut is created during unattended installation of the Windows itself, so there are no moments at all when I can't use my TC :)

I am a big fan of some of the utils on the list (and use them for a few years) and I hope my personal list will grow in the forthcoming weeks.

absolutely amazing list as usual!!!! thank you so much for taking the time to compile it. Love the podcast, I listen ALL the time.

just thought I might take a moment to add to the list of "Things Windows Forgot"..... if you haven't tryed it TaskBar Shuffle fixes the one thing I always felt windows was missing..... Moveable taskbar buttons.

-Ang3lFir3

Ang3lFir3

Tuesday, October 02, 2007 8:45:59 PM UTC

It'll be interesting to know what's missing on Linux, for the developer...